Saturday Reflection – 21 November 2020

Saturday Reflection – 21 November 2020

“God, your steadfast love is better than life.” Psalm 63:3

God is good! All the time! And all the time, God is good! We often say these words to express God’s goodness in our life, especially when we have overcome some trial or obstacle. And we often come to this point of celebration, having recognized that amid danger, imminent threat, or certain destruction, were it not for God’s grace and mercy, we would have certainly been destroyed.

The Psalmist finds comfort in the fact that even though, he is being pursued by Saul, and finds himself wandering the wilderness of Judah, that he was surrounded by God’s presence. And even though thirsty and weary, it was that assurance that fuelled his songs of praise to God. It was not for water nor rest that he cried to the Lord, but that God would draw near to him in his distress. Hear David in verse 1 “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” He longed to spend time in worship and communion with God, even to recall God’s guiding, sustaining and protecting hand that would energize him, in his moments of suffering.

It is in this longing, that he recognizes God’s continued care, and he turns to praise. David felt overwhelmed by the pursuit of his enemies and their continuous attacks, a feeling which turned to joy and praise as God’s love would be sufficient to sustain him in the storm and then lead him in victory over his adversaries. No wonder he says in celebration that God’s love is indeed better than life. For life is riddled with ups and downs, thorns and thistles, days on the mountain, in the valley or on the plain but it is God’s love that never changes. It is God’s grace that is greater than our sin. It is God’s mercy by which we are not consumed. It is in God, that we live, and move and have our being.

Where David was concerned, God’s love was not determined by whether there was a calm, or a storm – whether there were golden days or weary ways, but that God was present with him in either circumstance. That as he surrenders himself to God’s love and mercy, he would find himself assured that God, who promises, never to leave us, nor forsake us, to work everything for our good, is faithful. It was that resolve, that led David to long for God’s presence and that recognition, that fuelled his song of praise and worship. Though he was in danger, and felt the human effects of these pursuits, he was assured that by God’s love, all will be well. And in that perspective, he sought his loving God, who in sustaining him, would breathe peace, joy, and love.

It is this example, that turns us away from measuring God’s goodness on account of the storms we’ve avoided or not met, but by God’s sustaining presence, God’s moulding and shaping care, and the victory that we celebrate when we come out, on the other side. It is by God’s love that we are reminded that God is a promise keeper and is the glory and lifter up of our heads. And that in God, is our strong tower, that as we run to it, we are safe. When we are surrounded by God’s presence, when we stand in the name of Jesus, as the songwriter declared, tell me who can stand before us. When we stand in the name of Jesus, we shall have the victory. And in that resolve, we search not for the pleasures that this world offers, but for the one who in his unrelenting love for humanity, gives us life, and gives it to us, more abundantly.

Until next week, like the deer that pants for the water-brooks, may we long for God’s sustaining presence; our refuge, rock, and defence. The Psalmist declares that “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, NKJV) The pleasures of life are fickle and fleeting but God’s love is eternal and unending, and in that love, we shall not be moved. Amen.

Dominic J. Blair